Children's home run by Heartwood RSL Ltd

Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 1 Registered provider: Heartwood RSL Ltd

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Full inspection Inspected under the social care common inspection framework

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Information about this children’s home

This privately owned children’s home provides care for up to five children. The provider states in its statement of purpose that it provides person-centred care for children who have emotional and/or behavioural difficulties.

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Information about this children’s home

The home was registered with Ofsted in August 2019 and the manager was registered at the same time.

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Overall experiences and progress of

children and young people, taking into account

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requires improvement to be good

How well children and young people are helped and protected good

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requires improvement to be good

The effectiveness of leaders and managers requires improvement to be good

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requires improvement to be good

The children’s home is not yet delivering good help and care for children and young people. However, there are no serious or widespread failures that result in their welfare not being safeguarded or promoted.

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requires improvement to be good

Date of last inspection: This is the homes first inspection

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requires improvement to be good

Overall judgement at last inspection: not applicable

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requires improvement to be good

Enforcement action since last inspection: not applicable Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 2

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Recent inspection history

Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 3

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Statutory requirements

This section sets out the actions that the registered person(s) must take to meet the Care Standards Act 2000, Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. The registered person(s) must comply within the given timescales.

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Requirement Due date

The education standard is that children make measurable progress towards achieving their educational potential and are helped to do so.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff—

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Requirement Due date

help each child to achieve the child’s education and training targets, as recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

support each child’s learning and development, including helping the child to develop independent study skills and, where appropriate, helping the child to complete independent study;

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Requirement Due date

understand the barriers to learning that each child may face and take appropriate action to help the child to overcome any such barriers;

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Requirement Due date

help each child to understand the importance and value of education, learning, training and employment;

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Requirement Due date

promote opportunities for each child to learn informally.

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Requirement Due date

(Regulation 8 (1)(2)(i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)) 01/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The enjoyment and achievement standard is that children take part in and benefit from a variety of activities that meet their needs and develop and reflect their creative, cultural, intellectual, physical and social interests and skills. 01/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 4 In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to— develop the child’s interests and hobbies;

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Requirement Due date

participate in activities that the child enjoys, and which meet and expand the child’s interests and preferences; and

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Requirement Due date

make a positive contribution to the home and the wider community; and

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Requirement Due date

that each child has access to a range of activities that enable the child to pursue the child’s interests and hobbies. (Regulation 9 (1)(2)(a)(i)(ii)(iii)(b))

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Requirement Due date

The health and well-being standard is that— the health and well-being needs of children are met;

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Requirement Due date

children receive advice, services and support in relation to their health and well-being; and

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Requirement Due date

children are helped to lead healthy lifestyles.

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the standard in paragraph (1) requires the registered person to ensure— that staff help each child to—

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Requirement Due date

achieve the health and well-being outcomes that are recorded in the child’s relevant plans;

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Requirement Due date

take part in activities, and attend any appointments, for the purpose of meeting the child’s health and well-being needs. (Regulation 10 (1)(a)(b)(c)(2)(a)(i)(iii)) 01/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

The leadership and management standard is that the registered person enables, inspires and leads a culture in relation to the children’s home that— helps children aspire to fulfil their potential. (Regulation 13 (1)(a)) 01/04/2020

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Requirement Due date

Employment of staff The registered person must— 01/04/2020 Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 5 ensure that each employee completes an appropriate induction. (Regulation 33 (1)(a))

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Requirement Due date

In particular, the induction must refer to the latest version of ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and the Children’s Home’s (England) Regulations.

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Recommendations

 Ensure that staff are familiar with the home’s policies on record keeping and understand the importance of careful and clear recording. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 62, paragraph 14.4) In particular, ensure that children’s heritage is accurately defined and that they are not referred to as tenants or living in a flat.  The registered person should review the appropriateness and suitability of the location and premises of the home at least once a year. (‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 64, paragraph 15.1) In particular, the correct name of the home should be detailed in the review document.  Medicines must be administered in line with a medically approved protocol. Regulation 23 requires the registered person to ensure that they make suitable arrangements to manage and administer any medication. (‘Guide to the children’s

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Recommendations

homes regulations including the quality standards’, page 35, paragraph 7.15) In particular, ensure that there is an audit of the quantity of medication left and a record is kept of who administered the medication, to ensure accountability.

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improvement to be good

Children said that they like living at the home and they did not highlight any concerns to the inspector. Feedback from one parent was very positive, with the home being described as ‘amazing’. Social workers also said that they are generally satisfied with the quality of care.

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improvement to be good

Children have realistic aspirations and staff members are able to highlight children’s strengths and their positive qualities. Staff, however, are not creatively working with children on the goals highlighted in the children’s support plans. Several issues highlighted in children’s meetings have also not been actioned. Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 6 The current health arrangements for children are unsatisfactory. Not all children attend their health appointments. An audit of the remaining quantity of medication left for one prescription was not available at the time of the inspection. Medication records also fail to detail which member of staff administered the medication.

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improvement to be good

Only one child currently attends school. Staff advocate for the other children to receive tuition or an educational placement. Despite this, children who are not in school or college are not engaged in any meaningful or structured activity during the day. During the inspection, children did not get out of bed until the afternoon. Such habits do not help them to prepare for their return to education.

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improvement to be good

Children who are not in education have a variety of interests and strengths, however their potential is not being maximised. Children have enjoyed a few activities, such as occasional trips to the nail salon the gym, the cinema, shopping and bowling. However, children do not enjoy a wide range of new experiences, or activities linked to their hobbies and interests.

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improvement to be good

Follow-up action from key-work meetings is inconsistent, an example being a discussion regarding a curriculum vitae (CV). A child stated that they had nothing to record in their CV, and staff had not helped this child create relevant opportunities. Although children have a shared computer, there was no evidence that they had completed any online courses.

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improvement to be good

Children do not benefit from a structured implementation of the independence living programme. Children are able to develop their independent living skills, for example attending to their laundry and cleaning their room. Some children take pride in budgeting and occasionally cooking meals. However, this does not form a regular part of their weekly routine.

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improvement to be good

Children live in a clean, comfortable and contemporarily furnished home. They enjoy relaxing in an outhouse, where they can play computer games, table tennis and pool. Children are also able to personalise their bedrooms, to reflect their preferences and individuality.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are settled in the home and they have positive and amiable relationships with staff. Staff work in partnership with the police, family members, social workers and other professionals to keep children safe. This involves regular attendance at strategy meetings and requesting disruption meetings when there are causes for concern.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children use the home as a safe base. They are now spending more of their time indoors, which includes relaxing with staff. It is encouraging to see that a child chose to spend their birthday having a takeaway with staff, instead of going out.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Episodes of children going missing from the home have reduced and staff keep in touch with children when they have unauthorised absences. A social worker praised the Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 7 ‘proactive safeguarding’ and the ‘helpful’ interview staff undertake with children when they return. There is a well-coordinated response when children go missing and the police praised the approach taken.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff help children understand the importance of personal safety. Staff actively discuss issues such as knife crime, gang affiliation, the police stop and search powers, sexual and criminal exploitation and the importance of positive personal relationships. Staff receive a range of safeguarding training, which helps them appropriately protect children.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Key-work sessions enable children to discuss a range of topics linked to their personal development. These meetings also enable children to discuss feelings. However, not all children participate in key-work meetings.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Children are generally respectful to staff and each other. There are no issues in regard to bullying or challenging behaviour. The registered manager carefully matches children, which helps to create a calm and peaceful atmosphere within the home.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

Staff appropriately praise and reward children’s achievements. Any risks associated with children are clearly understood. The organisation’s behaviour support lead is also available to provide staff with expert advice.

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How well children and young people are helped and protected: good

The home has a location risk assessment, which highlights the particular risks in the neighbourhood. The assessment covers gangs in the area, radicalisation and other local youth-related concerns. The only issue is that the assessment inaccurately referred to another home within the organisation.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The registered manager is endeavouring to provide a stable environment for children, with a consistent staff team. Shortfalls relate to record keeping, the staff induction process and the need to ensure that staff are consistently working to meet the home’s statement of purpose.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The statement of purpose refers to the home providing a 24-hour curriculum and opportunities for children to learn and develop in both functional and creative ways. However, during this inspection, evidence of a 24-hour curriculum was not seen. A social worker also commented that the home is ‘not meant to be semi-independent’.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The majority of staff have experience of working in the organisation’s unregulated 16- plus and outreach services. This has led to some records referring to children as tenants and living in flats. More attention is needed in relation to record-keeping; for example, a child’s heritage was inaccurately recorded.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

The staff induction does not fully prepare staff for their role. The induction booklet does not include the specific regulations associated with children’s homes and the extensive Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 8 detail of the quality standards. The induction booklet also contains incorrect ‘Working Together to Safeguard children’ guidance.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

There have been no complaints. Several compliments have been received, which includes a team manager praising the registered manager’s integrity. Positive feedback was also received from a neighbour.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Children benefit from a culturally diverse and gender-balanced staff team. Staff said that they feel valued and they highlighted the support they receive from their manager and peers. There is an adequate range of training and the required vocational training is also in progress for staff.

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The effectiveness of leaders and managers: requires improvement to be good

Leaders and managers are aware of the shortfalls and stated that they aim to improve any areas of weakness. A strength of the service is the support from senior managers. The service has an experienced and passionate manager and there is a good capacity for further improvement.

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Information about this inspection

Inspectors have looked closely at the experiences and progress of children and young people. Inspectors considered the quality of work and the differences made to the lives of children and young people. They watched how professional staff work with children and young people and each other and discussed the effectiveness of help and care provided. Wherever possible, they talked to children and young people and their families. In addition, the inspectors have tried to understand what the children’s home knows about how well it is performing, how well it is doing and what difference it is making for the children and young people whom it is trying to help, protect and look after.

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Information about this inspection

Using the ‘Social care common inspection framework’, this inspection was carried out under the Care Standards Act 2000 to assess the effectiveness of the service, how it meets the core functions of the service as set out in legislation, and to consider how well it complies with the Children’s Homes (England) Regulations 2015 and the ‘Guide to the children’s homes regulations including the quality standards’. Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 9

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Children’s home details

Registered provider address: 416 Green Lane, Ilford, Essex IG3 9JX

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Inspector

Sharon Payne, social care inspector Inspection report children’s home: 2528264 10 achieve excellence in the care of children and young people, and in education and skills for learners of all ages. It regulates and inspects childcare and children’s social care, and inspects the Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass), schools, colleges, initial teacher training, further education and skills, adult and community learning, and education and training in prisons and other secure establishments. It assesses council children’s services, and inspects services for looked after children, safeguarding and child protection.

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Inspector

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Inspector

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Inspector

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